Select products in your products list to give them a category, publish them, archive them or delete them in one go, instead of opening each one. Bulk edits are on Starter and up.
Select products
- In the sidebar, open Products and select Products under it, or open your products list (opens in a new tab).
- Tick the box at the start of each product you want to change. To tick every product on the page at once, use the box in the header row.
As soon as one product is ticked, a bar appears above the list: the number selected, such as 3 selected, then the category list, Apply category, Publish, Archive, Delete selected and Cancel. Ticked rows are highlighted.
A selection covers the products on the page you are looking at — up to 20. When you go to another page, switch tab, search or filter, the list reloads and keeps only the ticks on products it still shows. To change more than 20 products, work page by page, or narrow the list first so the products you want are together: the Draft tab, a search, or Filters by category, brand, price or stock. See find products in your catalogue.
To start again, select Cancel in the bar: the ticks clear and the bar goes away. Nothing has changed until you press one of the other buttons.
Each of the next three sections is a separate task: do whichever you need, on its own.
Note
Changing the category or the status needs the Edit products permission, and Delete selected needs Delete products. The store owner and the store manager have both. See roles and permissions.
Set a category for the selection
- With your products selected (see select products), open the category list in the bar. It starts on No category.
- Choose the category, or type in Search categories… to find it.
- Select Apply category.
Every selected product moves to that category, replacing the one it had. Saved. appears, the ticks clear and the Category column shows the new category. Your storefront follows straight away.
Warning
The list starts on No category. If you select Apply category without choosing one, every selected product is taken out of its category. Check the list before you apply.
Unlike the product page, this list also lets you choose a parent category, such as Women. The products then sit in Women itself, not in Dresses or any other subcategory. To place them in a subcategory, choose the subcategory. To set up the categories themselves, see organise products into categories.
Publish or archive them
- With your products selected (see select products), select Publish in the bar to make them all Active, or Archive to make them all Archived.
The change applies at once, without asking you to confirm. Saved. appears, the ticks clear and each row shows its new status.
Active products appear on your storefront; archived ones are hidden but kept. There is no bulk button for Draft: to move a product back to Draft, change it from its row. What each status means for customers is in publish, archive or delete a product.
Each product records the change on its own History tab, as Status changed or Category changed. The History tab is on Starter and up.
Delete selected products
- With your products selected (see select products), select Delete selected in the bar. Delete selected asks you to confirm: “This deletes the selected products for good. This cannot be undone.”
- Select Delete to delete them, or Cancel to keep them.
Deleted. appears and the products leave the list. A deleted product cannot be brought back, its link stops working for customers, and its SKUs stay taken — a new product cannot use them. Its name and link are free again for a new product. If you might sell any of them again, select Archive instead — see why archiving is often better.
When something does not go through
| Message | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Bulk action completed. Some items were skipped. | The change was made, except for products that no longer exist — for example, someone deleted them while you were working. | Nothing. Check the list: the others have changed. |
| You do not have permission to do this. | Nothing was changed: your role does not allow it. | Ask the store owner about your role. |
| Could not save changes. | Nothing was changed: our server could not complete it. | Try again. |
| Could not delete. | Nothing was deleted, for the same reasons. | The same as above. |
| Could not reach the server. Check your connection and try again. | Your connection dropped, so nothing was changed. | Check your connection, then press the button again. Your selection is still there. |
| Category not found. | The category you chose was deleted after the page loaded, so nothing was changed. | Reload the page and choose another category. |
On the Free plan
Bulk edits, like CSV import and export, are on Starter and up. On Free you can still tick products and open the category list, but Apply category, Publish, Archive and Delete selected show a padlock.
Select a padlocked button and nothing changes: a message names the plan that includes it and its price — “This is on Starter — $19/month.” — with See plans, which opens your subscription. On Free, change products one at a time from their rows or their pages. See why a feature shows a padlock and plans and what each includes.
To change prices or stock across many products, use a spreadsheet: import or export products with a CSV file. An import does not email customers waiting for a sold-out item, so restock those on the product’s page.